This invention relates to a light activation apparatus for providing early warning that a braking system is to be activated, and more particularly to early warning light activation apparatus which is highly versatile and can accommodate a plurality of conditions which should result in the early activation of brake lights on a vehicle.
The prevalence of rear end collisions has resulted in the installation of high mounted brake lights on all automobiles manufactured for sale in the United States after 1985. This has been done since it has been demonstrated that placement of brake lights in the following driver's field of view reduces the time between leading vehicle brake light onset and the following vehicle's brake application by approximately 25%. This result is achieved by earlier perception that a braking action is taking place in the leading vehicle.
Avoidance of rear end collisions requires that a driver of a following vehicle maintain an appropriate intervening distance between that vehicle and the leading vehicle. When the leading vehicle executes a braking operation, maintenance of such appropriate intervening distance by the following vehicle requires that the driver thereof have time to perceive the braking condition, respond thereto and finally to decelerate. The mounting of a brake light directly in the field of view of the following driver enables earlier perception and, accordingly, where all things are otherwise equal, an earlier response and the onset of an earlier deceleration to maintain the requisite intervening distance.
Further improvement in the following driver's ability to perceive a braking condition occurring in a leading vehicle are available if the activation apparatus for the brake light within the braking system of a vehicle provides a signal of anticipated stopping prior to an actual depression of a brake pedal thereby anticipating the operator actions. Thus such telegraphing of an about to occur braking condition effectively removes the time interval between when the driver of a leading vehicle's foot is removed from the accelerator and actually impacts the braking pedal. While such an interval is typically measured in tenths of a second the extension in the period of time for the driver of a following vehicle to perceive a braking condition and respond thereto provides a significant increase in safety.
The significant safety aspects of such an early warning system have been recognized by the prior art. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,572 as issued to M. Eckstein and A. Shapira on Nov. 29, 1988. This form of early warning brake light activation system provides an early turn on of the brake light upon release of the accelerator when braking occurs under emergency conditions and the vehicle operator otherwise performs in a predetermined, standardized manner. However, the vehicle brake light activating devices disclosed cannot readily accommodate and distinguish many normal and sometimes varied operator activities which either should or should not result in an early illumination of the brake lights prior to an actual impacting of the brake pedal by an operator. Such activities may include, for example, the pumping of an accelerator pedal when a vehicle is started, a slow release of the accelerator pedal past a point to accommodate slowing down for traffic and which is not followed by actuation of the brake pedal. Other examples may be seen to occur when the accelerator is released after an interval which is simply too short to ensure that the vehicle has acquired appropriate velocity for braking or operator driving irregularities which may give the impression from the early warning system that the operator is constantly hitting the brake pedal without any purpose and hence cause the brake light to be ignored by a following driver.
Therefore it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved early warning system which provides an indication of anticipated emergency braking of a vehicle.
A further object of this invention is to provide an early warning light activation system wherein time intervals associated with accelerator position are determined for purposes of indicating whether said system should be activated.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide early warning system wherein time intervals associated with accelerator position are compared with predetermined intervals to determine whether said early warning system should be activated, such predetermined intervals may be pre-set or stored electronically from previous driver reactions.
Various other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become clear from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment thereof and the novel features will be particularly point out in conjunction with the claims appended hereto.